1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composition comprising water- and air-hardenable binders, exhibiting after hardening properties comparable at least to those of a natural stone or of a concrete.
The invention also concerns the use of the composition according to the invention to the realisation of moulded objects having the aspect and the properties of the stone, in particular of structures and of statutes, of slabs, paving blocks, city or interior furniture, chimneys and analogous objects.
The invention also concerns the application of the composition according to the invention to the realisation of a finish-polishing mortar or finishing and decoration coats.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among the hydraulic binders known, lime, plaster and cement can be mentioned, notably.
Lime, which has been known for a very long time, has been used in the past notably in the building trade, for example for sealing stones.
Lime has been far less used since the discovery of cement which enables to realise mortars, concretes and moulded objects having mechanical properties vastly greater than those which may be obtained with lime.
The objects and coats realised on the basis of cement have the major shortcoming of requiring long hardening times which slow down considerably the production rates.
On the other hand, the mortars and concretes obtained with cement are subject to retraction when hardening which promotes the formation of microcracks, thereby making moulded objects brittle.
Besides, when mortar or concrete is cast into a mould, the cast matter is generally not self-placing, so that it is necessary to use tools for kneading, vibrating or flattening the surface of the matter.
Plaster is used currently for moulding diverse objects.
However, plaster does not resist to the contact of water, so that the moulded objects made of plaster may not be used outdoors.
Moreover, the mechanical properties of plaster are vastly lower than those of concrete.